The number of sexual assaults increased at two of the American military service academies last year and students surveyed indicated more cases of sexual misconduct at all three academies, according to a Department of Defense report.
Assaults rose at the U.S. Military Academy and the Naval Academy, but declined at the Air Force Academy. All three combined, however, received fewer reports of sexual assault than in the year before. The schools received 86 reports during the 2015-2016 school year, which is five fewer cases than the 2014-2015 report.
West Point had nine more reports than in the previous year and Annapolis had three more cases, but the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs had 17 fewer cases of sexual assault than the previous academic year in which it reported 49 total cases — resulting in the overall decline.
Survey responses indicated that 48 percent of female cadets and midshipmen and 12 percent of male cadets and midshipmen experienced sexual assault at their respective academies, according to the report by the DoD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.
The report comes shortly after the Marine Corps came under fire for its nude photo scandal in which current and former members of the Marines shared nude photos of their female colleagues online accompanied by crude comments about them.
